DATA3780 Applied Blockchain technology project Course description

The student will carry out a project in Blockchain technology, preferably in collaboration with a relevant IT company, individually or in a group of up to five students. The aim is to provide the students with an introduction to applied Blockchain technology, while they solve a commercial problem in the form of an extensive project assignment with a workload equivalent to 10 hours a week over a 12-week period. If the project is carried out during the summer, the work must correspond to four days a week over a six-week period.

Blockchain is defined as a globally distributed ledger that ensures the digital distribution of assets with a minimal transaction fee and quick processing time. The technology allows for digital information to be distributed and divided, but not copied, ensuring that one individual piece of data only has one owner. An example of this could be spreadsheets, which are duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. This network can be developed with rules for continually updating the spreadsheets. This is the fundamental essence of Blockchain technology. Students will among other things work on a user case that involves many parties that are dependent on trusting each other in a bigger network/ecosystem.

In addition to the projects on offer, students can find their own projects within a relevant company, public organization or nonprofit. In this case, it is the student's responsibility to find a supervisor for the project within the external organization. All student-initiated projects must be approved the course coordinator before the start of the project. 

The elective course will only run if a sufficient number of students a registered.

The course builds on DAPE1400 Programming and DAPE2000 Mathematics with statistics. Students that do not have basic knowledge of programming and statistics must be prepared to make considerable individual efforts to acquire such knowledge.

It is an advantage if the student has prior knowledge of Blockchain tools, such as IBM Hyperledger, Azure BaaS, etc.

No requirements over and above the admission requirements.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student:

• has a fundamental understanding of Blockchain technology
• has developed an awareness of a number of issues relating to Blockchain technology

Skills

The student:

• is capable of implementing simple applications of blockchain technology

General competence

The student:

• is capable of applying Blockchain-related technologies or principles to solve problems relevant for business and industry/society. 

The students will work in groups of three to five students by completing a project on Blockchain technology in cooperation with relevant external parties such as businesses or public organisations. The students will be given access to relevant online resources, and receive supervision from an internal and/or external supervisor.

Projects are selected/distributed at the start of the semester. 

The course can be carried out individually by agreement with the course coordinator.

The following work requirements are mandatory and must be approved in order to prepare for the exam:

• A project outline that describes how the group will organise their work on the project.
• A standard learning agreement must be entered into between the project provider / supervisor and the student(s), and this must be approved by the course coordinator before the project can start.
• Three meeting minutes from supervisory meetings during the project period.
• An oral mid-term presentation, individual or in groups (max 5 students), 10 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A.

The deadlines for submitting the project outline and minutes of the meetings will be presented in the teaching plan, which is made available at the beginning of the semester.

Written project report (100% of the final grade).

A written project report delivered at the of the semester, individual or in groups (max 5 students), 4000 words +/-10 %.

For group projects, all members of the group receive the same grade. Under exceptional circumstances, individual grades can be assigned at the discretion of the project supervisor(s) and Head of Studies.

The exam result can be appealed.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A-F. 

Two internal examiners. External examiners are used regularly.